Rolling mill

ABSTRACT

THIS INVENTION RELATES TI A ROOLING MILL AND, FOR THE PURPOSE OF DESCRIPTION, TO A VERTICAL MILL OF THE TYPE EMPLOYED AS AN INTEGRAL PART OF A CONTINUOUS CASTING PLANT.

Nov. 23, 1971 .J. I. GREENBERGER 3,621,694

ROLLING MILL 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed April 20, 1970 llll lllllllllul'll 4 fl u I NVE N TOR JOSEPH J. GREEN/BERGER W 64 ATTORNEY 1971 J. 1 GREENBERGER 3,621,694

ROLLING MILL 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed April 20, 197C 1 1 f I v I I N VENT( )R JOSEPH 1. aeez-A/amam ATTORNEY 1971 J. I. GREENBERGER 3,621,694

ROLLING MILL Filed April 20, 1970 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 INVENTUK JOSEPH J. GRMBR6R ATTY )RNISY United States Patenq:

3,621,694 RQLILING MILL Joseph Irwin Greenberger, Pittsburgh, lPa., assignor to United Engineering and Foundry Company, Pittsburgh,

US. Cl. 72226 12 Claims m m M. w.

ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE This invention relates to a rolling mill and, for the purpose of description, to a vertical mill of the type employed as an integral part of a continuous casting plant.

The disclosure of the present invention illustrates a very compact rolling mill so constructed that each overhung vertical roll is horizontally displaceable about a fixed axis of a driving pinion located beneath the rolls. The rolls are movable towards and away from each other to vary the roll gap by a common piston cylinder assembly which urges the supporting housing of the rolls against a common adjustable stop that establishes the roll gap.

In a multistrand continuous casting machine the maximum space between the strand is determined by the fixed distance between the molds of the casting machine. A similar space limitation exists in the direction of the path of travel of the workpiece so that the mills must be kept close together, both from a rolling standpoint and also to comply wtih the preferred location of other equipment. When in-line rolling has been provided as an adjunct of the casting plant, great difficulty has been experienced in developing an economical mill that would comply with these stringent space requirements. Above and beyond the space requirements, the matter is greatly complicated by the fact that overhung drives are objectionable since they obstruct freedom of other equipment and greatly distract from the general neatness of the plant area. However, in the past when mills were driven from beneath, not only did they require deep and elaborate foundations because of their large size, but the water and scale which is inherently associated with the operation of the mill was detrimental to the driving components and, particularly, the universal spindles.

It is the object of the present invention, therefore, to provide a group of rolling mills, in which the mills may be horizontal or vertical mills, characterized by being very compact in construction so that they may be employed in an in-line rolling arrangement of a continuous casting plant and wherein, in the case of a vertical mill, its rollers are driven by the spindleless drive from beneath the rolls.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a compact vertical rolling mill having two overhung rolls, and each having a supporting shaft, a displaceable gear secured to the shaft, and constituting a roll assembly, a nondisplaceable driven gear in meshing relationship with the displaceable gear and wherein said displaceable gear moves in a fixed arcuate path about the nondisplaceable gear while it is being driven by the latter, an adjustable stop means arranged between the roll assemblies engageable by the assemblies so as to set the roll gap, forcegenerating means for moving said rolls towards each other and for urging them at a controlled predetermined pressure against said stop means in the direction opposing the rolling pressure.

These objects, as well as other objects and advantages of the present invention, will be better understood when Patented Nov. 23, 1971 the following description is read along with the accompanying drawings, of which:

FIG. 1 is a plan view illustrating the arrangement of four separate vertical mills built in accordance with the present invention, each receiving and rolling heated workpieces issuing from a continuous casting machine, not shown;

FIG. 2 is a sectional view of one of the vertical mills illustrated in FIG. 1 taken on line II-II of FIG. 3; and

FIG. 3 is a sectional view of the mill illustrated in FIG. 2 taken on line III-III thereof.

In referring to FIG. 1 the four arrows indicate the path of the workpieces issuing from the continuous casting machine, not shown. It will be appreciated that the four illustrated mills 10, 11, 12 and 13 are identical and, as will be noted later, each is driven by separate motor-gear reduction sets 15 and 16. The reduction units are connected to the mills by drive shafts 117.

The construction of the mills is best shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, and in referring to these figures, there is provided a housing 9, to be described later, which receives a pair of overhung sleeve rolls, only one being shown at 18, the contour of which reflects the fact that it is designed to reduce a square-shaped, cross-sectional workpiece. Since the roll assemblies and their driving components are similar, only one will be described although similar reference numerals will be applied to both assemblies and components. The roll 18 is secured to a shaft 19 by a cooperative pair of tapered keys 21. Below the roll supporting portion of the shaft 19, the shaft takes the form of a. journal which receives one of two bearings 22. At the lower end of the shaft 19 there is a. driven pinion 23, and immediately below that the shaft is formed with a second journal for receiving the other bearing 22. The bearings 22 are actually received in a pivotal frame 24. The frame 24 pivots by reasons of there being provided at the bottom of the frame a sleeve 25 rotatably supported by the housing 9 through a bushing 26. At the top the frame 24 is rotatably secured to the housing 9 by means of a stub shaft 27 by a bushing 28. As shown in FIG. 2, the frame contains a shaft 29 received in bearings 30 and to which a second pinion 31 is integrally formed and arranged to mesh with the pinion 23.

The end of the shaft 29, which extends through the lower portion of the housing, is provided with a key 31 for securing the shaft to a worm-wheel set, the main gear system for driving the roll 18. The gear wheel 32 is driven by a. worm 33 that extends beneath the entire mill assembly in a direction away from the path of the workpieces where the worm 33 is connected by the coupling 34 to the drive shaft 17, as shown in FIG. .1. The wheel 32 is supported by the bearings 35 and 36 which are mounted in a sub-base 37 that is connected to and supports the main housing 9. As noted previously, the driving arrangement for the roll does not employ a universal coupling so that one of the serious objections to prior mills has been. eliminated.

With reference to the Worms provided for driving the gear wheels, it will be noted in FIG. 1 that a separate worm and wheel unit is provided for each roll 18, which, in view of the opposite rotation of the rolls, the units are opposite hand, yet driven from a common drive shaft 17.

Turning now to the particular construction of the main housing 9, it consists essentially of an integral casting shaped in the form of a U-shaped housing, the lower portion or horizontal portion 38 being that shown in FIG. 2 and supported by the sub-base 37, and the vertical portion 301: being seen at the top of FIG. 3. To the left, as shown in FIG. 2, the housing takes the form of a rigid chair-like section 4 1, the upright portion thereof identified as 42 which runs along the side of the entire housing 9. At the top of the main housing there is provided a removable horizontal cross-separator 39 which is rigidly secured to the vertical legs 30a of the main housing 9. The main housing is enclosed in an outer casing 43 in which at the bottom thereof there are provided drain openings 44 and 45 which will allow water and scale that may get into the spacing between the housing 9 and the casing 43 to run off.

As previously noted, each of the rolls 18 of the mill, including its pivoting frame 24, is adapted to be displaced about the axis of the pinion 31. During this displacement, the pinion 23 moves around the pinion 31 as it is being driven by the latter. The top of the casing 43 is provided with openings to accommodate this movement. In order to set the gap between the rolls, and as best illustrated in FIG. 3, there is provided a slidable wedge-shaped member 46 guided in a block 47 formed as part of the housing 9. In the vicinity of the wedge-shaped member 46 there is provided on each frame 24 circular blocks 48 having fiat machined surfaces to contact the wedge 46. The wedge is driven in a direction to separate the frames 24 by a jack 49, the jack being driven by a reducer unit 51 and a motor '52. At the other end of the jack there is provided a selsyn transmitter 53 which will be associated with an indicator reflecting the distance between the rolls 18 and, hence, the roll gap. As shown in FIG. 2, the jack reduction unit and motor, as well as the selsyn 53, are mounted on the chair section 41 of the housing 9.

The rolls 1-8 are urged in a direction opposing the rolling pressure so as to bring their frames 24 into contact with the wedge 46- by a piston cylinder assembly 54, the cylinder end being connected to the one frame by an arm 55 while the piston end is connected to the other frame by an arm 56. The pressure of the cylinder is set at a value slightly in excess of the maximum. expected normal rolling pressure.

In operation, the gap of the mill will be set before the material has issued from the casting machine and before any pressure is applied to the cylinder 54 by operating the motor 52 to advance or retract the wedge 46, as the case may be, so as to separate the rolls the desired amount, which amount will be gauged by the selsyn 53 and, hence, conveyed to the operator. Once the roll gap has been set, the rolls will be separated so as to allow the starter head to which the workpiece has solidified in the casting process and which has been disconnected from the dummy bar prior to going to the mill to pass between the rolls, immediately following which the cylinder '54 will be operated to bring the rolls into their rolling position which is defined by the members 48 contacting the wedge 46. The pressure in the cylinder will be greater than what is needed to perform the necessary reduction, thereby assuring that a constant reduction will be taken. Should there be developed, for some reason, a greater rolling pressure than the pressure in the cylinder and of the order that would infiect possible damage to the various parts of the rolling mill, the rolls will automatically be allowed to move away from the wedge 46 upon the pressure in the cylinder 54 being overcome by the excessive rolling pressure.

It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the present invention provides not only an arrangement that will allow the sleeve rolls to be quickly removed and replaced, but one in which the entire mill can be removed in a vert short time. The sleeve rolls 18 are simply removed 'by removing the keys 21 and replacing the old sleeve rolls with the new ones. If it is desired to remove the entire mill, all that needs to be done is for the bolts, not shown, that connect the frame 37 to the foundation to be loosened, the coupling 34 disconnected, and the entire mill with its main drive can be carried away and replaced by a new one.

As noted previously, the features of the present invention can be used in a horizontal mill, and it also will be appreciated that other gear arrangements may be em- 4 ployed instead of the pinions 23 and 31 and the wormwheel sets 32 and 33.

In accordance with the provisions of the patent statutes, I have explained the principle and operation of my invention and have illustrated and described what 1 consider to represent the best embodiment thereof.

I claim:

1. A rolling mill comprising:

a housing for rotatably supporting in projecting fashion a pair of cooperative rolls,

a supporting shaft for each roll,

a displaceable driven gear secured to each shaft,

each related roll, shaft and gear constituting a roll assembly,

a nondisplaceable driving gear for each displaceable gear arranged in meshing relationship with said displaceable gears,

the construction and arrangement of each cooperative set of gears being such that the displaceable gears move in a fixed arcuate path about said nondisplaceable gears while in a meshing relationship with the latter,

an adjustable stop wedge means engageable by both of said roll assemblies in a manner only to restrain the assemblies in a direction to establish a roll gap between the rolls, and

a force-generating means connected to both of said roll assemblies for moving said roll assemblies towards and away from each other and for restraining the roll assemblies under a controlled pressure against said stop wedge means in a direction opposing the rolling force developed by said rolls.

2. In a rolling mill acording to claim 1 in which said housing constitutes a U-shaped frame,

the opening formed by the opposed parallel sides of said U-shaped frame receiving said roll assemblies in a manner that the shafts thereof extended beyond the parallel sides of said U-shaped frame.

3. In a rolling mill according to claim 2 in which said U-shaped frame also includes a rigid chair-like section having a projection extending along the side of said housing opposite said opening,

power means for adjusting said stop wedge means carried by said chair-like section.

4. In a rolling mill according to claim 3 in which said U-shaped frame includes a removable cross-separator adapted to be rigidly connected to the parallel sides of said frame.

5. In a rolling mill according to claim 3 in which the housing and said chair-like section are enclosed by an outer casing,

said outer casing having at least one opening to allow water and scale to escape from the interior of the casing.

6. In a rolling mill according to claim 2 including a cartridge for each roll assembly,

means supported by the interconnecting portion of said U-shaped frame for carrying said cartridges,

a combined pivot and drive shaft for each of said nondisplaceable gears for rotatably carrying said nondisplaceable gears,

means carried by each cartridge for supporting a difierent one of said pivot and drive shafts, and

said cartridge, including means for rotatably support ing said shaft and roll of its associated roll assembly.

7. In a rolling mill according to claim 6 in which each cartridge includes an arm projecting away from said roll said force generating means comprising a piston cylinder assembly having its piston connected to the arm of one of said cartridges and the cylinder thereof connected to the arm of said other cartridge in a manner to create a self-contained force system.

8. In a rolling mill according to claim 1 including:

a cartridge for each roll assembly,

surfaces formed on each cartridge complementary to the wedge means and engageable by said wedge means,

a rigid guide for said wedge means carried by said housing,

power means carried by said housing and connected to said wedge means for displacing said wedge means relative to said roll assemblies.

9. In a rolling mill according to claim 1 including a sub-page for supporting said housing,

said sub-base having an opening, and

a common drive means for said nondisplaceable gears received in said opening.

10. In a rolling mill according to claim 9 in which said common drive means includes a drive shaft arranged normal to the plane containing the axes of rotation of said nondisplaceable gears and carrying separate worm gears for each of said nondisplaceable gears, and

power means located outside of said sub-base connected to said drive shaft.

11. An arrangement of rolling mill stands for individually rolling closely spaced-apart workpieces delivered to the stands in a common horizontal plane, comprising:

separate rolling mill stands for each workpiece arranged in a tandem relationship relative to the paths of travel of the workpieces, but offset in the direction of said paths,

each stand including a pair of cooperative vertical rolls and comprising a housing for rotatably supporting a pair of first shafts,

said rolls of each stand connected to the first shafts of their associated housing in a manner to project above said housings,

a first gear connected to each of said first shafts at the ends thereof opposite the roll ends,

a second shaft carried by said housings spaced from said first shafts both in a longitudinal and transverse direction relative to said paths of travel,

a second gear carried by each of said second shafts arranged in a driving relationship with one of said first gears,

the construction and arrangement of each cooperative set of gears being such that the first gears are allowed to move in a fixed arcuate path about said second geare while in a driving relationship with the latter,

drive means for each of said second shafts connected to the lower ends thereof and arranged outside of said housings,

each of said pair of rolls received in a cartridge pivotal- 1y supported by their respective housings,

a single adjustable Wedge member for each stand engaging the cartridge thereof, and

a single piston cylinder assembly for each stand for urging the cartridge thereof against its associated wedge member.

12. An arrangement of rolling mill stands according to claim 11, including:

two additional similar stands for individually rolling two additional closely spaced-apart workpieces delivered to said additional stands in said horizontal plane,

wherein the additional stands are arranged in tandem relative to said paths of travel, but offset with respect to the transverse direction of said paths,

and further wherein the stands of the two sets overlap each other in said transverse direction and the driving means of each set of stands is arranged on the outside of the paths of travel to the two outermost workpieces,

and wherein one of the outermost rolls and one of the innermost rolls of each of said sets of stands overlap each other in said transverse direction.

9/1969 Diolot 72-245 X 11/1969 Schoifmann 72-234 MILTON S. MEHR, Primary Examiner US. Cl. X.R.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION Patent No. 3,621,694 Dated November 23 1911 Inventor(s) Joseph Ind-n Greenberger It is certified that error appears in the above-identified patent and that said Letters Patent are hereby corrected as shown below:

Column 1, line 3, should read with Column 2, line 36, "reasons" should read reason Column 3, line 56, "infleot" should read inflict Column line 67, after "roll" should read assemblies, Column 5, line 9, "sub-page" should read sub-base Signed and sealed this 31st day of October 1972.

(SEAL) Attest:

EDWARD M.FLETCHER,JR. ROBERT GO'I'ISCHALK I Attesting Officer Commissioner of Patents RM PO-1 (10-69) USCOMM-DC 00376-P69 f ll 5 GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE: HID 0-866-331, 

